Overcoming Loneliness

The following devotional is from the book, "Best Loved Passages of the Bible: A Daily Devotional", (P.12).

Overcoming loneliness:

The Lord your God goes with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you, Deuteronomy 31:6.

A grandmother was once asked, "Have you ever felt lonely?"

"Who isn't lonely? Who isn't lonely? she repeated. "From the moment we are born, we are lonely."

Lutheran professor and psychiatrist Paul Morentz says: "Loneliness is still mankind's greatest problem. And it stems from the original sin of mankind's self-imposed isolation from God back in the Garden of Eden."

And this sin of self-imposed isolation from God needs repentance and forgiveness. You and I may be on the run, totally by ourselves. But it is a sin to think we are completely alone and to stay in our loneliness. For God says, "[I] will never leave you nor forsake you," (Deuteronomy 31:6).

Evangelist-author Elizebeth Elliot, after being widowed twice, offered these practical biblical insights on conquering loneliness:

1. Be still and know God is God. Study Scripture and pray.

2. Give thanks- for the promise of God's presence.

3. Refuse self-pity- a death that has no resurrection.

4. Accept your loneliness- it can draw you closer to God.

5. Offer up your loneliness to God. Let Him transform it.

6. Live your life for those around you.

Yes, when you are lonely, remember that God says, "I know your depression. I care for you." " [I] will never leave you nor forsake you, (Deuteronomy 31:6).

"Lord remove me from the pit of loneliness. Instead, grant me a well of solitude with You- refreshed by the life-giving waters of my Baptism. Amen."